Archive for May, 2013

The Munchkin is still passing by occasionally, but he doesn’t seem ill. He’s still separate from the flock, though, and I have no idea why. Very odd behavior. I’m just letting him be and assuming he’ll get whatever social problem he’s having worked out eventually. I haven’t seen or heard the blue crown in more than a week.

I had my first real problem with the book—although it’s worked out now. I started what was supposed to be the final draft at the end of last year. I have to say that I didn’t really feel that at the time, though. That is, I didn’t have the feeling of “Okay. This is it. I’m really heading to the end now.” It’s too complicated to go into here, but it turned out that I had a bunch of unexpected problems to work through. And I had to start all over. I did start the final draft again last week, and this time, it feels real. This is the main reason I haven’t been posting much.

The little guy is still around. He’s coming around less, which is good, but he’s still alive. It’s very strange behavior. I’ll continue to keep an eye out for him and report any illuminating developments.

In the meantime, another blue-crowned conure (like Connor) has shown up in the flock. Somebody’s pet, no doubt. He’s a little clumsy when he flies, but he’s fully flighted, that is, his wings are not clipped. I see and hear him fly overhead every day, and yesterday he was looking stronger. I say “in the flock,” but for the moment he’s on his own. New birds are never accepted into the bosom of the flock right off the bat.

I no longer believe that the Munchkin got kicked out of the flock. There seems to be something not quite right with him. I did make an effort to lure him into a cage so I could take a close look. But he was hipper than that—which was fine. I really don’t want another bird. Judy and I have our hands full here now with birds and projects and the usual disturbances of life. I’ve stopped seeing him in the last day or two. I don’t know whether that’s good news or bad news. Best of luck, little Munchkin.

For more than ten years, Judy and I have been taking care of two injured birds (Parker and Big Bird) from the wild parrot flock. Since some trees near our house were cut down, visits by the wild birds have become rare. But last week we started getting daily visits from one of them, who seems to be attracted to Parker. They sit next to each other—Parker in the window sill and the wild bird (whom we call The Munchkin) on a railing on the other side of the screen. There have been two days when The Munchkin was here the entire day, leaving only briefly to eat. I was puzzled as to what was going on until I saw The Munchkin come under attack on two separate occasions by passing members of the flock. It looks like he’s been banished for violating flock rules. I’ve seen this happen in the past. Eventually the ban gets lifted, and the outcast is allowed to return. The last couple of days, The Munchkin has been around less.